Leeds United's first game after New Year's Day was against Speed's former club, Bolton Wanderers. At the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, Leeds United won the away game 2-0 without any blood, making 2008 a good start.
After the game against Bolton, Lee George immediately led the team to Wales to participate in the third round of the FA Cup. Leeds United's opponent will be the Welsh club Cardiff.
^^^
George Lee stood on the lawn of Cardiff City Stadium, arms crossed. However, his eyes did not stay on the athletes running back and forth on the court, but kept staring at the lawn.
Logically speaking, a head coach should not make such a mistake during a game. But the game has gone on for more than 80 minutes, and there is not much time left. The extra point board on the sidelines clearly reads "0:3", and there is almost no suspense in the game.
Leeds United played with a pure substitute lineup today. All the main players from the previous game against Bolton did not play and sat on the bench. Even players such as Smith, Parker, and Kuyt who had been playing full attendance in previous games were not included in the squad and were left in Leeds by George Lee. Robben and Barry, who have just returned from injury, are now on the court, but they were only replaced in the second half.
There was no need to care about the game. George Li didn't want to sit on the coaching bench. He just stood on the sidelines thinking about the problem.
As the season progresses, especially in the second half of the season, Leeds United's schedule here becomes more intensive. The league, Champions League and League Cup that were originally going to be played are now added to the FA Cup that is being played. Leeds United is now fighting on the fourth line. George Lee doesn't know if he needs to make a choice.
It is still January, and the knockout rounds of the Champions League have not yet begun. When the Champions League starts again next month, Leeds United's multi-front battle may cause a collapse. Excessive fatigue of players can lead to injuries, and the cold weather in winter can also make players more susceptible to injuries. Like half of Leeds United's main players being injured in the previous stage, George Lee doesn't want to happen again. It was too difficult when the team had no one available on the wing.
It was also at that time that continuous injuries caused Leeds United to lose points, so now they are only ranked behind Manchester United and Arsenal, including Chelsea and Liverpool, chasing closely behind them.
So if the team can give up the League Cup and FA Cup now, they can sprint towards the league and Champions League.
"Should we give up properly?" George Li thought silently.
While he was hesitating, the field suddenly became lively, and the coaching bench behind George Li also became lively.
"coming!"
George Li quickly raised his head and looked into the field.
Leeds United youngster Danny Rose passed the ball to Bell, and Bell began his performance in front of his hometown crowd.
He first got rid of Cardiff's right midfielder who came up to steal, and then accelerated past the opponent's midfielder. Cardiff's defense immediately became tense. They had been disgraced by this fellow countryman many times before.
Bell reached the front of the opponent's defense without slowing down, and rushed towards the opposing center back. When he was about to collide with the opponent, he changed direction and wiped him away.
It seemed that Cardiff's people had been waiting for a long time. Their right back moved towards the center when Bell started. After seeing that Bell was about to get rid of the central defender, the right back directly chose to tackle Bell.
Bell first pointed the ball past the opponent with his toes, and then jumped up to avoid the opponent's tackle.
Such a wonderful one-stop breakthrough instantly aroused the enthusiasm of all the players on the scene. Cardiff fans no longer supported their home team, but kept booing, asking Bell to hit the goal quickly.
Bell made a shot in front of all his hometown fans. Everyone thought Bell was going to shoot, including Cardiff's goalkeeper, who abandoned the goal and vowed to save the ball.
Bell swung his left foot, and then chose to knock horizontally.
"No goal, no..." Cardiff's goalkeeper was dumbfounded.
Kevin Davis, who followed up in the middle, gently sent the ball into the unguarded gate, rewriting the score to 4-0.
Bell did not choose to shoot, but passed the ball to Davis, who was more confident in scoring. This move also caused Davis to have a good impression of Bell.
After scoring the goal, Davis immediately hugged Bell who passed the ball to him.
"Boy, thank you very much." The strong Davis held Bell high.
"Put me down, Kevin." Bell was almost carried on Davis' shoulders.
Leeds United's coaching staff also praised Bell's move.
As the first assistant coach, Sheridan was the first to speak: "This kid can do it, knowing that Kevin has just come back and urgently needs a goal to get back into shape."
Speed on the side also added: "Don't forget, we are playing in Wales today!"
Speed, who is also from Wales, immediately thought that if he could score a one-stop goal at home today, it would be something that would go down in history.
Bale was born in Cardiff and is the nephew of Cardiff's famous striker Keith Pike. Bell's football talent has been outstanding since he was a child. His left foot is particularly skillful and he is often calm and confident when handling the ball. When Gareth Bale was in primary school at the age of nine, he played for Cardiff Civil Service Football Club in a 5-a-side football championship, which first attracted the attention of Southampton scouts.
Until Gareth Bale entered high school, in addition to football, he also participated in many other sports. Because Gareth Bale's football skills are particularly outstanding, his physical education teacher had to set special game rules for Bale, including not allowing him to kick the ball with his left foot, and he was not allowed to pass the ball as soon as he touched it. At the same time, Bell began professional training at the Southampton Satellite Academy in Bath, and Bell's physical fitness, endurance, and technical level gradually improved significantly. During this period, Bell helped the school football team win a regional event called the Cardiff and Vale Senior Cup at the age of 16. When Bell graduated from high school in the summer of 2005, he achieved a first-class score in the British Baccalaureate Examination in Sports Science, and was awarded a sports scholarship specially awarded by Southampton Satellite College in recognition.
Bell was then selected by Southampton and joined Leeds United before this season.
"He is not the only Welshman who also performed well." George Li walked back to the coaching bench and high-fived his colleagues in turn.
It’s already the fourth one, so there’s no need to celebrate.
Several coaches also looked at Charlotte Black, who was running to Bell to celebrate with him. This is another outstanding Welsh young man. He was involved in two of the previous three goals. One of them was a direct assist to Robben. The method was similar to Bale's pass just now. Robben just touched it lightly. Just score the ball.
"It seems that we cannot give up on the League Cup and FA Cup just yet."
After celebrating with other coaches, Li George looked back at the rotation players of each team who were working hard on the field. Some of them were under 20 years old, and some were already over 30 years old; some usually participated in the rotation, which was a bit... Usually there is almost no playing time.
